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State Emblem of the Soviet Union

The State Emblem of the Soviet Union[a] was adopted in 1923 and was used State Emblem of the Union of
until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is an Soviet Socialist Republics
emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow traditional heraldic
rules, in Russian it is called герб (gerb), the word used for a traditional coat of
arms.

It was the first state insignia created in the style known as socialist heraldry, a style
also seen in emblems of other socialist countries such as East Germany and the
People's Republic of China.

History

Creation

In the autumn of 1922, the Commission for the Development of Soviet Symbolics Armiger  Union of Soviet
began its work in Goznak. In those days, compositions of the first Soviet brands and
Socialist Republics
banknotes were created. On 10 January 1923, the Presidium of the Central
Executive Committee of the USSR established a commission for the development of Adopted 6 July 1923
the state emblem and flag. At the same time, the CEC defined the main elements of Motto Workers of the world,
the state symbols of the union: the sun, the sickle and hammer, the motto unite!
"Proletarians of all countries, unite!".
Earlier 1923, 1929, 1936,
In February 1923, the order for the creation of the coat of arms was handed over to version(s) 1946
Goznak. The artists of Goznak presented their variants, sketches of the projects of
the coat of arms of artists DS Golyadkin, Ya.B. Dreyer, N.N. Kochury, V.D. Kupriyanov, P. Rumyantsev, AG Yakimchenko,
I. Shadra. An interesting project was presented by artist K.I. Dunin-Borkovsky - he, as an adherent of classical heraldry,
represented the coat of arms of the USSR as a heraldic shield with a sickle and a hammer.

Rejected proposals

Design

Artist Alexander Yakimchenko Y. B. Dreyer D.S. Golyadkin N. N. Kochura V. D. Kupriyanov unknown

Successful proposals

The project by the head of the artistic and reproduction department of Goznak, V. N. Adrianov, is very close to the design of
the officially approved state emblem of the Soviet Union. He suggested that an image of the globe should be included in the
coat of arms, to represent membership of the Soviet Union being open to all nations of the world.

On 28 June 1923, he replaced the previously planned monogram "СССР" with a red star at the top of the proposed emblem.

Approval

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The design of the successful proposed emblem was redrawn by Ivan Dubasov. In his first draft, slogans were placed on a
red ribbon covering the lower part of the coat of arms. Then it was decided to place mottos in 6 languages on the tape
interceptions.

First version (1923–1936)

The project of the first version of the state emblem was accepted on 6 July 1923 by the 2nd session of the Central Executive
Committee (CIK) and the version was completed on 22 September of that year.[1] This design was fixed in the 1924 Soviet
Constitution: "The State Emblem of the USSR is composed of a sickle and a hammer on a globe depicted in the rays of the
sun and framed by ears of wheat, with the inscription "proletarians of the world, unite!" in six languages—Russian,
Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, with the Russian inscription in the centre. At the top of the
Emblem is a five-pointed star."

The emblem was created by Vladimir Adrianov and finished by Ivan Dubasov. In 1931, Tajik was added after the formation
of the Tajik SSR in 1929.[2]

Second version (1936–1946)

According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the USSR consisted of eleven republics. Hence the major new version's
difference from the previous one was eleven ribbons bearing USSR State Motto inscriptions in eleven languages. The
languages added were Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tajik.

Third version (1946–1956)

The number of republics in the USSR became 16 after the USSR entered World War II
and annexed the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Finnish Karelia in 1939–40, before
Germany's invasion began in June 1941, but the state emblem was changed to reflect
this only after the end of the war. By a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of
the USSR on 26 June 1946, all 16 constituent republics were represented on the
emblem. The USSR State Motto was inscribed on 16 ribbons in 16 languages.
Inscriptions in Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, Kyrgyz languages were
updated due to the transfer from Latin to Cyrillic script of the respective languages
The 1946 version on a Soviet
within the USSR. Also, several language from newly annexed republics were added:
postage stamp
Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian Cyrillic (Moldavian), and Finnish.[1]

Fourth and final version (1956–1991)

In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was demoted into the

Stamp version of the Soviet
emblem used on printed
materials.
Karelo-Finnish ASSR and incorporated into the
Russian SFSR, and soon this was reflected on the
USSR state emblem.[1] By a decision of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on 12 September
1956, the ribbon bearing the USSR State Motto in
Finnish was removed.[2] Soviet state emblem on the building
of the Russian Ministry of Foreign
A minor change in the Belarusian inscription was a
Affairs, 2011. 16 ribbons are
decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
present.
USSR on 1 April 1958.[2]
Inscriptions on the ribbons (which are translated into
English as "Proletarians of the world, unite!") are as follows:

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Left Right

Turkmen: Әхли юртларың пролетарлары, бирлешиң! (Ähli ýurtlaryň

Estonian: Kõigi maade proletaarlased, ühinege!
proletarlary, birleşiň!)

Tajik: Пролетарҳои ҳамаи мамлакатҳо, як шавед! (Proletarhoyi
hamayi mamlakatho, yak şaved!)
Latvian: Visu zemju proletārieši, savienojieties!
Armenian: Պրոլետարներ բոլոր երկրների, միացե՜ք (Proletarner bolor
erkrneri, miac’ek’!)
Kyrgyz: Бардык өлкөлөрдүн пролетарлары, бириккиле! (Bardık
ölkölördün proletarları, birikkile!)

Moldovan Cyrillic: Пролетарь дин тоатe цэриле, уници-вэ! (Proletari

Lithuanian: Visų šalių proletarai, vienykitės!
din toate țările, uniți-vă!)

Georgian: პროლეტარებო ყველა ქვეყნისა, შეერთდით! (P’rolet’arebo Azerbaijani: Бүтүн өлкәләрин пролетарлары, бирләшин! (Bütün
q’vela kveq’nisa, sheertdit!) ölkələrin proletarları, birləşin!)

Uzbek: Бутун дунё пролетарлари, бирлашингиз! (Butun dunyo Kazakh: Барлық елдердің пролетарлары, бірігіңдер! (Barlyq elderdiń
proletarlari, birlashingiz!) proletarlary, birigińder!)

Ukrainian: Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся! (Proletari vsikh krayin, Belarusian: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся! (Pralietaryi ŭsich krain
yednaytesya!) jadnajciesia!)

Russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Proletarii vsekh stran, soyedinyaytes′!)

The coat of arms continued to appear after the dissolution of the Soviet Union even in Soviet ruble banknotes until 1994
when many post-Soviet states began to issue its own currencies. Public usage of the Soviet emblem formally ended in 2002
when Russia and other former republics ceased issuing Soviet passports. It continues to appear in many public places
within Russian territory, especially after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Description
The state emblem shows the traditional Soviet emblems of the Hammer and Sickle and the Red Star over a globe, and two
wreaths of emmer wheat covered by "Workers of the world, unite!" in the official languages of the Soviet Republics, in the
reverse order they were mentioned in the Soviet Constitution.

Each Soviet Republic (SSR) and Autonomous Soviet Republic (ASSR) had its own coat of arms, largely modeled after the
state emblem of the Soviet Union.

Gallery

1922–1929 1929–1936 1936–1946 1946–1956 1956–1991

See also
Soviet Union
portal
Heraldry portal

Emblems of the Soviet Republics

State Quality Mark of the USSR
Flag of the Soviet Union
Emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Coat of arms of Russia

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National Emblem of the People's Republic of China

National emblem of East Germany

Notes
a. Russian: Госуда́ рственный герб Сове́тского Сою́ за, tr. Gosudárstvenny gerb Sovétskogo Soyúza, IPA: [ɡəsʊ
ˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɡʲerp sɐˈvʲetskəvə sɐˈjuzə]; Ukrainian: Державний герб СРСР; Belarusian: Дзяржаўны герб СССР;
Kazakh: ССРО мемлекеттік елтаңбасы; Lithuanian: TSRS Valstybinis herbas; Latvian: PSRS valsts ģerbonis;
Estonian: NSVL riigivapp

References
1. Bolotina, S. (November 1983). "How Our State Emblem Was Created". Nauka i Zhizn (in Russian): 20–24. ISSN 0028-
1263 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0028-1263).
2. "Герб СССР" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070817170818/http://www.heraldicum.narod.ru/russia/ussr.htm). Russian
Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. 25 August 2006. Archived from the original (http://www.heraldicum.narod.ru/russia/u
ssr.htm) on 17 August 2007.

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